The Uganda Gold Coast Commonwealth team got into action on the first day of the games with a mixture of results in Weightlifting, boxing, netball, swimming, squash and badminton on Thursday.
Here is a summary of the different outcomes;
Weightlifting
Uganda opened the games with the final Gold medal Weightlifting event that saw Ssekitoleko Julius finish 10th in the Men’s 65kg with a total lift of 158kg.
He lifted 67kg in snatch and then 91kg in clean and jerk – falling out of the medal bracket. The gold medal went to Izahar Ahmad of Malaysia who lifted a total weight of 261kg.
His total lift was a Games record. In his snatch attempt, Ahmad lifted 117kg, which was also a Games record. In clean and jerk, he lifted 144kg.
Swimming
Uganda’s Elisha Tibatemwa Ekirikubinza set a new national record in the men’s 50m butterfly of 27.17 seconds but failed to qualify to the next phase.
Ekirikubinza made impressive second in the first heat at the Optus Aquatic Centre but fell 25 places from qualification.
Uganda’s Elisha Tibatemwa Ekirikubinza sets a new national record in the men’s 50m butterfly. @NCSUganda1 @UgandaSwimming @JanetMuseveni pic.twitter.com/nJYmhMvF9h
— NOC UGANDA (@Official_UOC) April 5, 2018
Squash
Uganda’s squash player Ian Rukunya won his game against Fiji’s Stephen Henry to set up a Round of 16 tie.
Uganda’s squash player Ian Rukunya in action earlier on. He won his game to set up a Round of 16 tie later today. @GC2018 pic.twitter.com/GdpDC0YmRd
— NOC UGANDA (@Official_UOC) April 5, 2018
Rukunya claimed the match 3-0 – winning 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 in 9 minutes.
The East African was dispatched in his second outing against Englishman Nick Matthew, the men’s gold medallist both in 2010 and 2014.
Rukunya was beaten 11-2, 11-6, 11-2 in 17 minutes. He will now face Mauritius’ Xavier Koenig in the Men’s Classic Plate Round of 16 on Friday.
Micheal Kawooya similarly won his opener against Paupa New Guinea’s Madako Junior Suari 10-12, 3-11, 6-11 in 20 minutes.
He however fell to England’s Daryl Selby 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 in 21 minutes. The 34-year old will face Sri Lanka’s Ravindu Laksiri on Friday i n the men’s Singles Classic Plate Round of 16.
Badminton
Uganda started with a 5-0 loss to England in Group C at the Carrara Sports Arena in a mixed team Badminton event.
Mixed doubles pair Chris and Gabby Adcock overcame Kasirye Brian and Nakiyemba Aisha while Rajiv Ouseph and Chloe Birch followed that with wins in their singles games against Edwin Ekiring and Shamim Bangi respectively.
Fresh Ugandan pairing of Kasirye and Ekiring also lost to Chris Langridge and Ellis Marcus. Nakiyemba and Bangi also collapsing against Pugh Jessica and Chloe.
Uganda faces hosts Australia in their second group C outing on Friday before tussling out South Africa too later on the day.
Boxing
Ugandan boxer Semujju Kavuma lost his men’s 64kg Round of 32 bout to England’s McCormack Luke – the judges scoring 10-9 all through rounds one, two and three – in favour of the Briton.
The 25-year-old in the blue corner looked clearly disgruntled after the match as Luke’s hand was lifted high by referee Wolper Jonathan – Kavuma scoring 30-27 from all five judges.
Netball
Uganda Netball She Cranes debuted at the Commonwealth games led by skipper and one of the best shooters in the game Peace Proscovia as they put up a spirited fight at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Uganda suffered a 64-51 defeat against New Zealand’s Silver Ferns but clearly registered an improvement – having lost to the four-time World Cup winners and two-time Commonwealth Gold medalists 76-33 at the Allphones Arena in Sydney three years ago.
Proscovia bagged 35 from 40 as Uganda came quite close in the fourth quarter but the energy and sense of urgency was quite late for a win.
The She Cranes will return to action on Saturday against Malawi, a side they beat to the African title last year.